Category Archives: My Thoughts on Various Issues

Not free to love, as we chose, because we’re of the same gender, and, although laws are currently being passed, to okay same-sex marriages all over the places, we’re still, SHUNNED, by the public, like when we’d gone strolling, we held hands, and, people would look at us weird, making us both uneasy.

Not free to love, as we chose, well, you know what, I NEVER chose my sexual preferences, it’s just how I was born, and, there’s NO way, I can change, what’s already, genetically prewired.

Not free to love, as we chose, sure, there are so many countries that are currently passing laws, to okay same-sex marriage, but, would we all be considered, equals? Of course N-O-T, and, what IF me and my partner are both Catholics, and we wanted to be married, by a Catholic priest, in a Catholic church, oh no, no, I can already see their shocking faces: we’re NOT allowing GAYS or LESBIANS, to marry here, in this HOUSE of G-O-D!

Well, if God really, loved all of HIS children (there’s still SOOOOOOOOOOOOO many ways I can argue that!), then, why are we being given a hard time, in trying to marry who we love?

My daughter had always wanted a cat for a pet, but, because neither one of us wanted to, she’d let that thought go. Back in high school, one day, she saw a Rilakkuma, she’d bought it, with glee, it was, about eighty centimeters in height, with light brown coat, a square head, short and fat limbs, very cute, my daughter called it “Bear”, the three of us all loved it so. The bear would usually stay in my daughter’s room, and accompanied my daughter to dreams at night; during the cold winter nights, my daughter would make sure, that her bear is warm, but when she wakes in the morn, the bear would usually have made its escape out, and would be on its side or with its head into the bed, making my daughter laugh.

At meal time, my daughter would carry the bear to the tables and sat with us, it’d stood, on the long chair, with its two, short arms on the table, like a kid, standing up, to eat at the table. After meal, my daughter would carry her Teddy bear back into her bedroom, and would from time to time, nag it, out of fun, “Everybody’s finished already, only you, still here, you glutton.”

The rest time before bedtime, we’d all lain on the bed, sharing conversations, naturally, the bear would also, be there too.

The bear is naturally, my daughter’s number one fan when she plays the piano, whenever my daughter would practice, she’d placed the bear close by; and from time to time, she would have me, hold on to the bear, and listen to her play, after she’s done performing, I would pull the bear’s hands together, to give her the applause, and hollered, “Encore! Encore!”, and my daughter would be filled with glee. Whenever my daughter felt off, she’d told her sorrows to her bear too, she felt, that the bear had great healing powers.

Whenever it’s sunny, my daughter would put the bear onto the couch in the living room, to give it a sunbath, and, after the bear was warmed, she’d then, carry it back into her bedroom, and stated, “the bear had already gotten the essence of the sun and the moon now, it’d become, an energy bear!”

Sometimes, when my daughter heads off abroad to travel or to perform, she’d lain her bear on her bed, pull the covers over her, told it, “You must behave yourself, and wait, for my return.”

What’s more classic was, when she’d started grad school, and was going to her orientation, she’d brought the bear with her to her dorm; and when she’d called home regularly, she’d told me of how the bear was doing; and, waited until the summer or winter vacations, she’d bring the bear home with her.

Being an only daughter is really lonely, but, with her bear accompanying her, as parents, we feel, better about her not having a sibling.

And so, this, is how FAR someone’s attachment objects can go, this young woman didn’t have ANY siblings, as she’s an only child, and so, she’d found herself an attachment object, in this case, a Teddy bear, to accompany her, now, I’m not saying, that having an attachment object is a bad thing, but, this, is just, going WAY too far here, in MY opinion, that is.

Before my days of serving my army terms on the external islands ended, before those days of no need for worries and just, watching the stars are over, I’d started calculating, what, I will be making a living off of afterwards. Back then, I’d had two options, one, put myself up, as a manager of the foreign baseball players for the Uni-President Lions (I know I loved watching the game, as for my English skills, well, at least I CAN speak. And I can also say, that I have the background in psychology too); another was becoming the editor of Money Magazine (before I’d enlisted, I’d followed the markets, and during it, I’d subscribed to the financial magazines by the month, I’d collected ALL the volumes).

For the former, I’d wanted to show off my English skills, I’d not written anything to show the headhunters, just how fluent I am, in the language, and for the latter, they’d called me back and wanted me to go in for an interview. But, the magazine told me that there wasn’t an opening for editor, but there was an opening, in the sales department. And, two days after I’d asked them, “What, do I do in the sale department?”, fate sent me a curve ball, turns out, the government had an experiment for two years, and so, I’d become, the very first set of “clinical psychologist”.

Two years flew by, with the experiences of the cases, I’d started having the doubts: do psychotherapy really work? Unsure of my contributions to the parents and the students (I need to review my results from back then now), I’d actually felt, that I couldn’t do anything to help those who came to me at all, I’d needed to “climb the squares” in the midnight hours, to express my own emotional strains (and, I’d managed, to keep accords of these thoughts and feelings to the point I can get published already!)

Just as the experiments are about to end, a colleague begged me, to drive her over to the General Military Hospital, her nephew went into the service, and, got sent, to the psych ward, and was made, to stay there for an entire month, causing the whole family to worry.

Actually, it’s been a couple of years since my time in the psych ward (not for the hospitalization, but for my internship), it’d been a couple of years since, but, because someone entrusted in me so, I could only, tell her okay.

I’d recalled, how I’d observed how my coworker interacted with her nephew a bit, then, I’d started a conversation with that kid of not yet twenty that neither one of us understood what each other was talking about, then, on the way back, I’d told my coworker a bunch of things that wouldn’t help in the kid’s recovery, the point is merely, for my coworker, to be mentally prepared, that her nephew will become hospitalized. Without knowing, before I dropped her off, she’d shoved a thousand dollar bill into my hand, told me to keep it (twenty years ago, that was HUGE!). I was shocked, because I didn’t help them in any way, I’d quickly returned the money to her. My conscience wouldn’t let me rest if I’d taken her money! After we’d shoved the money back and forth, my coworker told me, “I just wanted you to know, that you CAN make a living off of doing this!”

Turns out, her family was split on how to deal with her nephew’s illness, one party is for him, taking rest at home, the other believed that hospitalization would suit him best, and because of my analysis, it’d given her the proof she needed, to convince her family members. But what she failed to realize, was those words before she got off my car, gave the me back then, a boost of encouragement.

Listening, Allowing the People to Feel No So Alone

I did, accept the money from my coworker, but my work is almost done, and I don’t know where I’m to go, so, I’d returned back to my alma mater, to chat with my professor. Don’t know if it was because my age reached a nine, or whether or not I was unsure of whether I should follow everybody else, go abroad to study, I’d felt so low, and, all the way to see my professor, I’d felt, that the world had turned completely dark.

I’d recalled my professor hearing me out, “I’m close to thirty, and still had yet to amount to something”, he’s flashed a smile at me, said, “I’m past age fifty, and feel that there are a lot of things I can accomplish, and you’re just almost thirty…”, he’d asked me if I’d considered being his teach assistant before I head abroad, and told me that I would have the chances, to being in contact with the elites of the society.

But, these ten minutes of conversation, I’d felt like I still had hopes (what the professor failed to predict was the earthquake that came a month later caused the job description to shift greatly for the next three years). And there was something unforgettable, as I’d walked out of the department, I’d felt, that the trees had, turned green, the flowers, bloomed beautifully, and the colors, had all returned!

And that, was the very first time, I’d realized, that talking, is healing.

A lot of the times, I’d have the families of the patients inquire, how do we accompany unstable, depressed, even demented patients? Actually, there IS no right answer. Other than making sure, that you are well, then, you can keep on accompanying the person!

And so, this, is a man’s journey, to find his own calling, and he used a ton of psychotherapy techniques, to help his friends, as well as those who’d come to consult him out, which just goes to show, that psychology lends itself to everything still!

The world right now, it’d shown, a reflection of inequality, as all those police shootings of colored persons get “broadcasted”, causing riots all over the places, what, did we learn, from just standing by, and watching those events, as mere observers?

A reflection of inequality, this, is what the world has entail for us, and, because there are so many varied shades of skin colors, we forget, that we’re all related, sharing this GOD DAMN (and your point being???) planet, and we get caught up, on the differences that we have of one another, and failed to remember, that we’re actually, the SAME.

A reflection of inequality, it’s EVERYWHERE, don’t tell me you don’t see, and, as the next generations of children are born, into this FUCKED (and your point being???) UP world, can we be certain, that, we’re providing them, with a SAFER environment that they will be able to, live in, grow up, be carefree in?

Behind the reflection of inequality, there’s an even MORE pressing issue at hand: why, can’t we tolerate people with a difference of opinion than we? Why can’t we STOP trying to FIT one another, into those small BOXES of EXPECTATION? And, don’t ALL of you out there realize, that expectations will only lead to DISAPPOINTMENTS, as I’d already learned, the HARD way already? And, I’m merely telling you this because? Oh yeah, I’d wasted TOO much time on figuring things out, and, IF you could take less time, to figure things out for yourselves, wouldn’t you WANT the help too? I know I would!

When falsifying the ingredients became “culture”, because the world is run by those god DAMN merchants with absolutely NO alternative motive other than making a FEW more EXTRA bucks, and so, that, is why there are so many poisonous foods, expired raw materials being used now.

When falsifying the ingredients became “culture”, there’s NO way to alter it, as this “culture” is already begun, and, until someone DIES from it, nobody’s gonna give a SHIT, because, it didn’t HIT them personally yet, and, even IF someone DIES, it’s still NOT our business, because, it’s not one of our own, who’d died because of it.

When falsifying the ingredients became “culture”, there’s just nothing we can do, to UP the morale, because, the world had, gone to the dogs, oh wait, it’s WORSE, than having the world GONE to the D-O-G-S, because at least, you CAN train your dogs, to SIT, STAY, now, be a good boy, and go FETCH! But not with people………

The downside of this reform in education, from the Front Page Sections, translated…

Recently after the results of the college entrance examinations, the related questions are once again, brought up, all of these problems, may be the issues of the systems, but, they are also a reflection of the blind spots of education, we failed to teach the younger generations the following:

Plans for One’s Futures: all the parents know, that entering into college is a very important decision. But, other than preparing for the entrance exams day and night, what ELSE did we put in, for preparation’s sake? We’d been led to believe, that so long as we scored high enough, we can attend ANY school we wanted to; but, the colleges are filled with an INFLUX of students who’d chosen the wrong majors, and has an even HIGHER rate of dropping out. Aren’t the youths of eighteen years-of-age allowed their rights to explore their areas of interest? Couldn’t they have the chances, to fail at the options they were choosing? Shouldn’t they get to know the situation in those schools they’re applying to? Are they really certain, of what they’re doing?

The writer recalled, back when he’d applied for graduate school in the U.S., in order to make the best choice with limited funding, he’d conflicted between the choices of schools, or the majors, but, after going through that, I’d understood better, the purpose of me, studying abroad. The whole purpose of the application process, is for the students to sort through their plans for themselves in the next four years, to choose the major that is mostly fitting to oneself. But unfortunately, we’d educated the students by rushing them through the lessons, then, giving them endless reviews, examinations of the subjects, unwilling to let the students find their own separate piece of sky, no wonder, the college interviews, the entrance exams for the separate majors are almost exact, and, the schools had spent a TON of money, to publicize the academics, and not getting the desired results.

The Students Couldn’t Live Independently by Themselves: undeniable, the process of heading to interviews will take the students all over the map, but, the parents shouldn’t accompany the children to and from, and hover over them, wasting their money away. An eighteen-year-old youth, in order to fulfill one’s own life, venturing out on one’s own, it’s the MOST meaningful thing in life. In Europe or the U.S., a youth such as this may have already backpacked around the world, or worked odds and ends, to provide for one’s own tuitions, but, our beloved parents seemed to be more unwilling to let their babies head off to college, and would rather treat their grown children like babies, and had even hoped that the kids would choose schools closer to where the parents lived, so they could look after them better.

To tell the truth, if the parents are having troubles, letting the kids fly solo to school, how could they possible expect, these children will grow up, to be the pillars of the community?

Naturally, a lot of the schools could improve more on the processes of deciding on admissions, for instance, they should have separate offices for the applications, and personnel who handle the matters professionally. And, the restrictions of the percentile markings from the examinations should also be more lenient, so more of those students from less fortunate backgrounds could get equal opportunities, so they could use the potentials to overcome their backgrounds, to give back to the community later on as they graduated. But, all of these key determinants of success is based off of the real understanding of the purpose of education: grades are a minor part of life, we needed to help our young work hard to follow their paths, to become more practical in life. But, all of these, more important values, we’re not, teaching them at all.

Because this application process had just been set up this past couple of years, whereas they’d used the exam grades, to determine WHICH major you are to study in in the past, and so, this, is all new to the students, as well as the parents, and so, the parents AND the students NEED to adapt themselves, quickly, to how this current system works, and that, would be one thing that those legislators failed to consider, before they’d implemented the new ideals.

This, would be the PRIMARY issue of concern, in all the world’s countries today, from the Front Page Sections, translated…

Based off of the news reported by UDN NEWS, the legislations for long-term care is stuck, in the legislative department again. It’s such a pain, just like the scholars stated, if there are NO laws tailoring to the long-term care of the elderly population, a lot of the families in this society will shatter. All of us, siblings are trapped, in this deep and painful abyss, and, there’s still, NO end in sight.

My mother is in her eighties, has serious long-term conditions, other than heading to the doctors regularly, she’d still needed around-the-clock care, but, we’re all, regular working class, and, although we wanted to hire someone to watch my mother, but, my mother feared that she’ll drag us all down, and wouldn’t allow us to spend the money, and so, we, the siblings that are all over the island took turns, looking after her. Even so, whenever there is a period where nobody was able to go stay with her, when my mother is left all alone on her own, we couldn’t help but worry, but, there ARE, no better ways, it’s truly, hard! If there’s long-term care programs, and when it is required for us to, we’re willing to pay the extra fees, to kick start this program, so, my mother could be looked after well, so we can all, take time off, it would be a wonder, and, none of us needed struggle as hard on the issues.

Seeing my mother’s conditions, I’d come to my senses, that I’m almost sixty, I deeply feared that I may become a burden to my two sons, and so, I’d bought myself some long-term care insurance, my other half wanted to do this too, but, unfortunately, he has a history of long-term illness, the insurance companies wouldn’t provide the coverages. Ahhhhhhhh! How long, this road, to providing the long-term care for elderly is, when will it actually start working?

And so, this, is still, NOT just happening here, it’s happening, in ALL the world’s countries, because as we live longer, more health issues will surface, take of dementia, there WASN’T the diagnosis of dementia say, back in the 1900s, was it? Nope, because people didn’t live LONG enough to get there, but now, as the human age gets longer, there’s this desperate need, for long-term care, but, can we get it???